


-core: Meltdown

by LJ_Pynn



Category: Old Ben-core, Star Wars - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 04:09:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15655473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LJ_Pynn/pseuds/LJ_Pynn
Summary: It is the year 2020. Old Ben-core, having defeated his evil doppelganger Marc Maron years before, is the top live streamer in the world. His words of peace and wholesomeness while discussing ‘Star Wars’ and other pop culture subjects have brought peoples from all over the world to a new age of peace and understanding. Unbeknownst to them, however, an evil of an era long past has taken notice of this prosperity. They will stop at nothing to bring the world down to its knees and will soon find the key to doing so. . . ._________________________________________________________________________________________________





	-core: Meltdown

Adam stroked his beard as he prepared for the first livestream of the new year. Lizzy stood behind the camera, making sure everything was in order for their broadcast. The studio lights shown on him sitting behind the large desk, adorned with knick-knacks and a laptop. He studied the day’s talking points that were written on the computer in front of him.  
  
“Ready, babe?” Lizzy asked. Adam pushed the laptop out of frame and sat up in his chair.

“Ready.”

“Alright, we’re on in five… four… three… two…” she indicated the start of the show.

“Hello, my little friends!” Adam began, “This is the Old Ben-core livestream and our first show of 2020. We sure have a lot to talk about today. First, of course, the recent release of ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’, which you all already know I loved. We also got the first trailer for ‘Kenobi: A Star Wars Story’ this week, and I’ve definitely got a lot to say about that. Now let’s get into today’s discussion. So it’s been two weeks since Episode IX hit theaters and I’m excited to finally start talking about spoilers,” Adam glanced over to the computer, checking some of the comments that had already come in. “Ah, Logan. Thank you for the kind words. And yes, you called it. Reylo is canon. I never would have--”

“Adam!” a woman’s voice interrupted him. He looked up to Lizzy, whose lips were sealed. “Adam!” The voice called again, as both looked toward the hallway off-stage. The sound of heavy footsteps began to accompany the shouting.

“Hold on, guys.” Adam held a finger up to the camera and stood from his seat to investigate. The woman stumbled into the room, nearly tripping on the door frame. She leaned forward, her head hanging as she caught her breath. Her hair was grey and her clothes tattered.

“Miss, are you okay?” Lizzy asked. Adam was sure he’d recognized the woman’s voice. He stepped closer as she finally looked up at him. Her face was covered in dirt and blood, but the mark of a heart under her eye made him quickly realize who she was.

“Marina!?” He exclaimed.

“Adam, we need you,” She panted,  “There’s been an attack at the temple.”

“Babe?” Lizzy inquired again, confused by the intruder’s words. Adam placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Liz, this is Marina. She saved my life a couple of years ago.”

“Mari-- Wait. You mean that whole time-travel story where you got kidnapped by a comedian you kept talking about was real?!”

“Yes, yes!” Marina said quickly, while grabbing both of them by the wrists. “Now both of you come with me.”

“What? What’s going on?” Adam asked as they sprinted down the hallway. “What attack?”

“We’ll tell you when we’re on the ship.” Marina responded.

“The ship?” Lizzy asked as the three of them burst through the door to the parking lot. Adam caught her as her eyes went wide and she nearly tripped up at the sight of _The Ghost_ taking up the entire lot. The loading ramp lowered and a man began waving them in.

“Come on, guys!” he shouted as they got close. Adam was happy to recognize another face.

“Andrew! Hey!” Adam and Lizzy stopped at the ramp while Marina rushed up to the cockpit. Adam was quickly engulfed in a tight hug by his fellow -core Admin.

“Been too long, Adam,” he said before releasing him and pointing down to Lizzy’s hand. “That’s a nice ring. Congratulations to you both.”

“Thanks,” Adam responded, “But what’s going on? Marina said there was an attack?”

Andrew nodded, placing an arm around his back. “You guys had better come take a look at this.”

He led the couple down the ship’s corridor toward the lounge room. They felt _The Ghost_ raise from the ground and switch to artificial gravity. Andrew indicated for them to take a seat as he activated a holo-generator. The room dimmed and a three-dimensional recording of the temple in Guatemala appeared in front of them. Adam’s heart sank at the sight of the temple engulfed by smoke.

“What happened?” He asked quietly.

“April 20, 2051. Some… _thing_ attacked the temple while we slept. Whatever it was, escaped into the World Between Worlds, but not before destroying half of our forces and wrecking the place.”

“You don’t even know what attacked you?”

“They left a clue,” Andrew changed the view, “It defaced the Aphra-core Memorial. Burned into the ground was this…”

Adam’s brow furrowed in confusion at what appeared before him. A swastika with three words of a different language marked under it: ‘Tod zum -Kern’

“What the hell?” Lizzy asked under her breath.

“Yeah, I agree,” Adam spoke up, “What the hell does it say?”

“It’s German,” Andrew told him, “It says ‘ _Death to -core’._ ”

Adam’s heart sank. He didn’t understand what would leave such a mark of hatred alongside a threat against the -core community. He looked up to Andrew as the room’s lights came back on.

“It’s gotta be Maron. He said the -core community was the reason for his fall from fame.”

“I don’t think so,” Andrew shook his head. “Our sensors didn’t pick up a human reading.”

Adam nodded. “And I guess one man couldn’t have done this alone.”

“Excuse me!” Lizzy cut in, “What do you need _us_ for?”

“I need you to put a team together,” Andrew responded, “We’ve got most of our survivors spread across the multiverse hunting whatever did this.” He pointed at Adam, “And _you_ went missing just before the attack, so I had to come back and get _you_ to help us. Once we get back to base, you can take the portal to gather whoever you need.”

“Look, I’ll help in any way I can, but I don’t want to put her in harm’s way,” Adam grabbed his fiance’s hand, “Can we drop her off at home?”

“No can do, man,” Andrew started. “Our Communications Officer was killed in the attack. I need someone with Radio experience to keep an eye on everyone in the field. We didn’t have the fuel necessary to find anyone else. We could only make one trip with _The Ghost_."

“Come on! Anyone could speak into a radio! She can’t--”

“Babe!” Lizzy cut him off, “It’s okay. These people saved your life. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have you here in the first place.”

“You don’t have to do this.”

“Hey,” She held up the ring on her finger, “I just agreed to be at your side for life.”

Adam let in a heavy breath and finally nodded. “Okay.”

For the rest of the short trip to Guatemala, Andrew filled them in on the time since they’d last met in 2049. When they finally arrived, it was night and the temple still stood in one piece. Marina’s voice came through the PA system.

“Alright, strap yourselves in. We’re about to make the jump back to 2051.”

The three of them in the lounge room secured themselves as the lights across the ship dimmed once more and the light of the time portal illuminated the room.

“Guys,” Andrew spoke softly to them, “You may want to prepare yourselves. It’s not going to be pretty when we arrive.”

Adam felt a sickness rise in his stomach. He could only imagine the devastation he was about to witness. The ship began to shudder as they exited the time portal. He felt as they finally set down. Andrew, Adam, and Lizzy waited at the ramp as Marina joined them. Adam let in another breath as the ramp began to lower. He took Lizzy’s hand as they all began down to the ground. He felt her hand rip away from his as it flew over her mouth with a gasp. He choked, tears growing in his eyes.

  
The flames. The bodies. It was much worse than he imagined.


End file.
